Best Practices in Docking Management

This highly practical training course helps shipping companies eliminate avoidable docking costs.

Objectives

To enable shipping companies to eliminate avoidable docking costs through lean drydocking principles using modern software and principles for cost control, project and risk management.


Entrance requirements

Who should attend: 

Superintendents/Fleet managers, Senior management, Owners, Cost Controllers, Senior officers

Duration: 2 days or 12 hours as a virtual classroom training. This course can also be tailored to your particular situation. Please contact your local Maritime Academy.


DNV’s study “Best practice ship management”, where 80 shipping companies around the world were interviewed, concluded that “Drydockings are the biggest chunk in a ship manager’s maintenance budget. However, most ship managers report that a 20–30 % cost overrun to the dry dock budget is rather common than an exception.” 

But it doesn’t have to be like this. 

Owners and managers are expecting docking projects to be planned and executed with full control of quality, cost and time. They expect the superintendent to deliver reliable forecasts of the cost at completion and when the vessel will be back in service. This course covers the methods available to achieve this level of control. 

The starting point for a successful docking is a solid Docking and Repair Specification, and the course goes into depth about how to build a specification that is detailed, precise and complete. It also covers the tendering phase where an optimum yard is selected and the basis for successful execution is laid down.

Real-time cost control is simple in theory but difficult in practice. Therefore, cost control has often been outsourced to the yard with periodical updates to the owner. The course explains how modern software and hand-held devices can be used to achieve real-time cost control on the owner’s side of the table. 

Proper cost control needs to be anchored in a suitable contract, so you will learn how the contract can be used as a practical tool to control the docking. We will also look into the very real pitfalls of widely-used standard shipyard contracts and the disasters they may lead to.

The course covers the practical phases of a docking from A to Z, including the key class surveys and requirements that apply. Designed in close cooperation with leading shipping companies, and drawing on years of practical experience, the course is highly interactive and encourages a lively exchange of opinions for the benefit of all attendees. A number of practical checklists and templates will be provided.

The course focuses on:
  • How to bring docking costs under control
  • How to manage risk and avoid surprises
  • How to use the contract as a management tool
  • Project management  
  • Quality
  • Specification
  • Tools and templates
  • The latest software solutions available
  • Best practice
  • Examples of practical cases